Introduction

5G is changing much more than mobile network speeds. It is introducing new services, new business models, enterprise connectivity requirements, network capabilities, and increasingly sophisticated ways for communication service providers to charge for network usage.

Traditional billing environments were largely designed around established services such as voice, messaging, and mobile data. However, 5G introduces more dynamic requirements, including differentiated services, enterprise connectivity, IoT, network slicing, edge computing, roaming scenarios, and services that may need charging based on more than simple data volume.

This is where 5G converged charging becomes increasingly important.

A converged charging architecture allows telecom operators to bring online and offline charging capabilities together within a more unified framework. 3GPP’s 5G architecture introduced the Charging Function (CHF) and the service-based Nchf interface, supporting converged online and offline charging services within the 5G system architecture.

For operators, the goal is not simply to replace an existing billing platform. It is to create a charging environment that can respond to evolving services, pricing models, customers, and network technologies.

What Is 5G Converged Charging?

5G converged charging is an approach to telecom charging that combines the management of charging information for online and offline charging within an integrated charging environment.

In simple terms, it enables an operator to manage charging for different types of network usage and services through a more unified architecture.

Online charging is commonly associated with real-time control of subscriber resources, balances, quotas, or spending. Offline charging involves collecting charging information for later processing and billing.

In 5G, charging functions are integrated into the service-based architecture. The 5G Charging Function, or CHF, provides charging services to authorized network functions through the Nchf interface.

This architecture creates a foundation for operators to support increasingly complex charging requirements without treating every new service as a completely separate billing problem.

Why Is Converged Charging Important for 5G?

The commercial environment around 5G is becoming more complex.

Operators are no longer focused only on selling voice and data packages to individual consumers. They may also need to support:

  • Consumer prepaid and postpaid services
  • Enterprise connectivity
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Private and non-public networks
  • Network slicing
  • Edge computing
  • Roaming
  • Quality-of-service-based services
  • Application and API-based services
  • New device and connectivity models

3GPP has continued to expand charging capabilities for these scenarios. Its recent work includes charging enhancements associated with network sharing, positioning services, satellite access, new device types, network exposure, and other emerging 5G use cases.

At the same time, the GSMA has highlighted the industry shift from simply increasing 5G adoption toward finding ways to monetize 5G and 5G-Advanced capabilities.

This makes charging infrastructure a strategic component of 5G commercialization.

5 Key Benefits of a 5G Converged Charging System

1. Real-Time Charging and Usage Control

One of the biggest advantages of modern charging architecture is the ability to make charging decisions closer to real time.

This is particularly important for prepaid subscribers and services where operators need to control usage against available balances, allowances, or spending limits.

A modern online charging system can help operators:

  • Validate available credit or quota
  • Apply charging rules
  • Deduct usage in real time
  • Manage service authorization
  • Enforce spending limits
  • Support usage-based pricing

Primal Technologies’ prepaid platform, for example, supports real-time rating and charging and allows operators to create monthly, weekly, daily, and usage-based plans.

2. Flexible Pricing for New Services

5G can support services that require more flexible commercial models than traditional voice and data plans.

For example, an operator may want to create pricing based on:

  • Usage
  • Time
  • Service type
  • Subscriber category
  • Enterprise agreement
  • Data allowance
  • Quality of service
  • Application
  • Location
  • Network resource consumption

3GPP charging specifications continue to evolve to support new 5G monetization scenarios. For example, Release 17 introduced charging capabilities for areas such as proximity-based services, edge computing, roaming, and network slicing.

A flexible converged charging system helps operators adapt their commercial models as these services evolve.

3. One Charging Framework for Multiple Services

A fragmented charging environment can make new service launches more difficult.

When different services rely on disconnected charging mechanisms, operators may face greater integration complexity, duplicated processes, and additional operational overhead.

Converged charging provides an opportunity to establish a more unified charging framework across services and network functions.

This is particularly relevant as telecom operators increasingly operate hybrid environments that include legacy infrastructure, 4G, 5G, cloud platforms, virtualized network functions, and containerized applications.

4. Faster Service Innovation

Telecom markets move quickly. Operators need to introduce new plans, promotions, services, and enterprise offerings without requiring a complete transformation of their charging environment every time.

Flexible charging infrastructure can help operators introduce new commercial models more efficiently.

For example, operators could develop plans around:

Consumer services

  • Unlimited data
  • Time-based packages
  • Data boosters
  • Usage-based charging

Enterprise services

  • Dedicated connectivity
  • Service-level-based pricing
  • Private network services
  • IoT connectivity

Emerging services

  • Edge computing
  • Network slicing
  • Satellite connectivity
  • API-based network capabilities

The underlying principle is simple: the charging system should be flexible enough to support the business model, rather than the business model being constrained by the charging system.

5. Better Scalability Through Cloud and NFV

Modern telecom infrastructure increasingly relies on virtualization, cloud technologies, containers, and automated deployment.

A charging platform that can operate within these environments can provide operators with greater flexibility as demand changes.

Primal Technologies states that its telecom services can be deployed on Network Function Virtualization architectures, including customer private clouds, public cloud environments such as AWS, and Primal’s own cloud infrastructure.

Its cloud offering also supports telecom services including SMSC, MMS and PCRF, along with support for VoLTE, IMS and advanced network architectures.

This type of deployment flexibility can be particularly valuable for operators modernizing telecom infrastructure incrementally rather than replacing everything at once.

Online Charging vs. Offline Charging

Understanding the difference between online and offline charging is essential when discussing converged charging.

Online Charging

Online charging takes place while a service is being consumed or before additional usage is authorized.

This can be important for:

  • Prepaid subscribers
  • Real-time balance management
  • Usage quotas
  • Spending control
  • Session authorization
  • Real-time policy enforcement

For example, if a prepaid customer has a limited balance, the charging system can participate in determining whether additional usage can be authorized.

Offline Charging

Offline charging collects charging information that can subsequently be processed for billing, settlement, reporting, analytics, or other business processes.

It can be useful for services where real-time balance control is not required.

Why Convergence Matters

A modern telecom environment can require both approaches.

A converged charging architecture allows operators to support different charging requirements without building entirely separate commercial and technical systems for every service.

3GPP’s 5G charging architecture explicitly incorporates converged online and offline charging services through the 5G Charging Function.

How Does 5G Converged Charging Work?

At a high level, a 5G charging environment collects relevant usage or service information, applies charging logic, and communicates the resulting charging information to the appropriate systems.

A simplified flow can look like this:

Subscriber / Device
↓
5G Network Functions
↓
Charging Trigger / Usage Information
↓
5G Charging Function (CHF)
↓
Online / Offline Charging Processing
↓
Billing, Balance, Policy or Business Systems

The actual implementation can be significantly more sophisticated depending on the operator’s network architecture and service model.

The important change in 5G is that charging is designed as part of the service-based architecture rather than being treated only as an isolated billing component. 3GPP’s architecture describes the CHF and Nchf interface as key parts of this evolution.

5G Monetization: Going Beyond Traditional Data Plans

For many operators, the larger opportunity is not simply improving billing efficiency. It is finding ways to monetize capabilities that were previously difficult to package and charge for.

Network Slicing

Network slicing can allow operators to provide differentiated network capabilities for specific use cases or customers.

Charging may therefore need to account for different slice-related services, customer relationships, or business models.

3GPP has expanded converged charging capabilities for network slicing and related scenarios.

Edge Computing

Edge environments bring computing resources closer to users and applications.

As edge services evolve, operators may need to charge for connectivity and other resources associated with edge-enabled applications.

3GPP Release 17 introduced charging support for several edge-computing-related scenarios.

IoT and M2M

IoT devices can generate very different usage patterns compared with smartphones.

Some devices may communicate infrequently, while others may generate large volumes of automated traffic.

A flexible charging environment allows operators to create commercial models suited to these different requirements.

Enterprise Connectivity

Enterprise customers may require customized agreements based on usage, service level, resources, geography, or application requirements.

Converged charging can provide the flexibility needed to support these more complex commercial relationships.

Satellite and Non-Terrestrial Networks

Charging requirements are also evolving around satellite and non-terrestrial network connectivity.

3GPP’s recent charging enhancements include support for satellite access and related business models involving operators, MVNOs, roaming, and additional service scenarios.

What Should Telecom Operators Consider When Modernizing Charging?

Moving toward a modern charging environment requires more than selecting a new platform.

Operators should evaluate several factors.

Network Integration

The charging system needs to integrate effectively with the operator’s existing network and business systems.

Important considerations include:

  • 4G and 5G core integration
  • Policy and charging functions
  • Subscriber databases
  • Billing systems
  • CRM and customer-care platforms
  • Mediation systems
  • API integrations

Scalability

The platform should be able to scale as subscriber numbers, traffic volumes, and service complexity increase.

Flexibility

Operators should be able to introduce new rates, plans, packages, and service models without extensive redevelopment.

Cloud and Virtualization Support

As telecom infrastructure moves toward cloud-native and virtualized architectures, charging platforms should be compatible with the operator’s target deployment model.

Operational Visibility

Charging systems should provide appropriate visibility into usage, transactions, balances, charging events, and system performance.

Future Readiness

Perhaps most importantly, the platform should be able to evolve as new 5G and next-generation network services are introduced.

Why a Flexible Prepaid and OCS Platform Still Matters in 5G

Despite the evolution toward 5G charging architectures, prepaid and real-time charging remain important components of mobile operator infrastructure.

Operators continue to require systems capable of handling flexible plans, balances, quotas, and usage-based services.

Primal Technologies’ OCS/prepaid platform supports different plan models and real-time rating and charging for voice, SMS, MMS, and data. It also supports add-on buckets and activation through channels such as USSD, SMS, IVR, and web-based self-care portals.

For operators modernizing their infrastructure, this type of flexibility can be valuable because the transition to 5G does not necessarily mean abandoning every existing service model. Instead, operators often need to connect established services with newer network capabilities.

The Future of Telecom Charging

The role of telecom charging is continuing to expand.

As 5G-Advanced and emerging network technologies develop, charging systems are expected to support increasingly diverse scenarios.

3GPP’s Release 19 charging work includes enhancements relating to satellite access, charging function segmentation, network exposure, network sharing, positioning services, and new device types.

This illustrates a broader industry trend: charging is becoming an important enabler of network monetization rather than simply a back-office billing function.

For telecom operators, the ability to identify usage, apply business rules, manage resources, and charge for differentiated services can directly influence how quickly new network capabilities can become commercially viable.

Conclusion

The shift to 5G is creating new opportunities for telecom operators, but those opportunities require charging infrastructure that can keep pace with changing services and business models.

5G converged charging provides a foundation for bringing online and offline charging capabilities into a more integrated architecture while supporting flexible pricing, real-time usage control, and emerging monetization scenarios.

As operators explore network slicing, edge computing, IoT, enterprise connectivity, satellite services, and other 5G-enabled opportunities, charging flexibility will become increasingly important.

The right charging platform should therefore do more than process billing information. It should help telecom operators launch services faster, manage usage more effectively, and turn new network capabilities into sustainable revenue opportunities.

Primal Technologies provides telecom charging and prepaid solutions designed for modern operator environments, with support for real-time rating and charging, flexible service plans, cloud deployment, NFV architectures, and evolving network technologies.

Learn more about Primal Technologies’ prepaid and advanced charging solutions:
https://www.primaltech.com/prepaid-billing-system.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 5G converged charging?

5G converged charging is an architecture that supports integrated online and offline charging capabilities within the 5G network environment. 3GPP’s 5G charging architecture introduces the Charging Function (CHF) and Nchf service-based interface to support charging services.

What is the difference between online and offline charging?

Online charging supports real-time charging and usage control, while offline charging collects charging information for subsequent processing such as billing and reporting. A converged charging approach supports both requirements within a more unified architecture.

Why is converged charging important for 5G?

5G introduces new services and monetization models involving enterprise connectivity, IoT, network slicing, edge computing, roaming, satellite connectivity, and other use cases. A flexible charging architecture helps operators support these evolving requirements.

Can converged charging support prepaid services?

Yes. Real-time online charging is particularly important for prepaid environments because operators can manage balances, quotas, rating, and service authorization. Primal Technologies’ prepaid platform supports real-time rating and charging and multiple plan models.

How does 5G charging support network monetization?

5G charging can enable operators to create commercial models around different services, usage characteristics, enterprise requirements, network resources, and emerging capabilities. 3GPP continues to expand charging support for newer 5G use cases.

What should operators look for in a 5G charging platform?

Operators should consider scalability, real-time charging capabilities, flexible rating, integration with existing network and business systems, cloud and virtualization support, operational visibility, and the ability to support new services without extensive redevelopment.

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